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Personal Essays

First of all I have nothing against the F word. Used properly (so to speak) it can lend a certain energy to what you’re writing, whether fiction or non-fiction. But the other day I was checking an edited essay of mine that’s going to appear in an anthology coming out in a few months and…

Here’s the thing about writing an essay, or a novel or a memoir – each time you do it you learn how to do it all over again. At least I have to. I’m writing an essay now that’s due in January for an anthology on faith. Ever since I signed the contract for this…

On Thursday I start teaching the personal essay course at UCLA Extension's annual Writers Studio. Boot camp for essayists, 10:00 am to 6:00 everyday for four days. I'm excited about the subject, the students who are coming, and the take-no-prisoners attitude of the whole Studio experience. Here's the thing about writing personal essays: they never…

Writing the personal essay is my favorite genre of creative writing. At this moment I've got a children's picture book idea I'm struggling with; many drafts of it written but I can't find the key to make it into a compelling story (this can go on for years as it did once with another picture…

Amazon has this cool new thing for published writers called Author Central where you can click on Book Scan Highlights and discover not only how many copies of your books sold through Amazon the previous week but where they sold. (A shout out to you Salt Lake City for buying all those copies of CHERISHED over…

One thing about writing a personal essay is that you don't have to devote your life to it. Right now I'm writing a book with a September 1st deadline and quite frankly this is the focus of my existance. Writing a book, especially when you have a deadline, is relentless. It's like a difficult marriage…

I copied this off the This I Believe newsletter (link is below.) Except for the word length, their guidelines could apply to most all essays. This I Believe Essay-Writing Guidelines We invite you to contribute to this project by writing and submitting your own statement of personal belief. We understand how challenging this is—it…

Thanks to those of you who let me know the link from the previous post wasn't working. And special thanks to Mac guru Rob Daly who figured it out and sent me the right one. http://practicing-writing.blogspot.com/2010/06/friday-find-free-guides-to-paying.html

This email from Jenny Rough today. Check it out. Lots of good places to send your personal essays. "This writer is offering free access to her e-books (personal essay market guide and book review market guide) until Aug. 1 ".: http://practicing-writing.blogspot.com/2010/06/friday-find-free-guides-to-paying.html This is Mama Cat who follows me down Burma Road every morning. She thinks…

Last summer I wrote a post on this blog about the death of my horse (it’s under The Writing Life:”My Horse, Robin”) and many of you responded with comments that really helped me. Including one from Bob Goldman DMV who said my post should be in an anthology of pieces about loving and losing…